A Baby's Cry: Prologue

by A.J. Mathews

Note: None of these characters are mine, except for the obvious ones. Most of these characters were created by Marvel. This story deals with violence and death!

Three years ago・

・Logan?・ Jubilee whispered to him, her voice fading slightly.

・Yes, Jubes?・ he said softly, cradling her to his chest. Damn it all, it just isn・t fair, he thought to himself. We finally found her again・ only to lose her once more.

・Logan・ I・ remember something・・ her voice trailing off weakly.

He looked at her in shock. ・You mean・・

Jubilee nodded slowly. ・Yes. Promise me something, Wolvie?・

・Anything, sweetheart, anything.・ He clung to his lover, feeling her life ebbing away. The last six weeks had been wonderful, until this had happened.

・Promise me・・ Jubilee・s voice cracked slightly. ・Promise me that when I die, you・ll find her・・

・Find who?・ He was confused.

・My baby・. Promise me you・ll find her・ Please, Logan・・ she pleaded, with tears dripping down her face.

・Honey, Beast said you didn・t have a baby・・ His voice trailed off. Jubilee had been insisting that she・d had a baby ever since she・d been rescued. Logan honestly didn・t know what to believe. She believed it with all of her heart; yet Hank McCoy had denied that it had happened.

・I know I did,・ she insisted. ・I told you・ I remember something. I was in a room, laying on a table, with a bunch of people in white coats. They were standing over me.・ She flinched. ・Then, I heard a baby cry before I passed out.・

Logan frowned. She seemed to be convinced it was a real memory. ・Jubes, if there was a child, and it lives, I promise, I will find her or him.・

・Thanks Logan・・ her voice trailed off. Her hands grew limp, as did her entire body. The heart monitor attached to her went off, and a bunch of nurses and a doctor ran in.

・Stand back, please,・ the doctor told Logan, who was in shock.

She・s gone. I can・t believe, Logan thought. He thought back on what all had happened.

A year ago・

Jubilation Lee, better known as Jubilee, had never been happier in her life than she had been almost a year ago. She and Logan had gotten married when she turned 18, five years ago, with the X-Men・s reluctant approval. And she stared at something that made her as happy as she had been that day four years ago.

She had had exciting news to tell him when she had called him on the phone.

・Darling, what time are you coming home tonight?・ her sweet voice had asked.

・Earlier than usual, Jubes. Most of the kids are taking an exam.・

・How・s our little man doing?・ asked Jubilee. Their five-year-old, Timothy, had just enrolled in the youngest class ever for mutants.

・Good, darlin・.・ He heard Jubilee・s smile through the phone. ・Why are you so happy?・

・Nope. I・m going to tell you when you get home tonight,・ her melodious voice teased.

He sighed, ・All right,・ pretending hurt. ・Jubes, I gotta get back to the kids, ok? I love you.・

・I love you, too, Logan.・ Jubilee had hung up the phone and beamed at the positive pregnancy test strip.

How could either have them have known, Logan thought, years later. How could they have known that a maniac would kidnap her and ruin all of their happiness?

Timmy looked at his daddy. ・Daddy, mommy・s gone, isn・t she?・ the eleven-year-old wept.

Logan took their son in his arms. ・Yes. But you know that she loved you, and if she could have stayed, she would have.・

He hugged his son as both wept. Logan cried because of all of their lives had been forever changed. His firecracker was gone. Gone, and never coming back. And there might be a child out there, who belonged to them both. Timmy wept because his mommy was gone.

Present Day

They・d known it would happen sooner or later. Jubilee had been infected with the Legacy Virus by whoever had kidnapped her. And that person had never been found.

They had found Jubilee, who had been battered and bruised. She・d never recovered from the ordeal she・d gone through for almost a full year, before being rescued. Most of her memories had been shattered, and she・d had to build new ones. She・d never been able to identify who attacked her.

But she・d gone on with life and all of the good and bad. Because she・d been a firecracker. And now her light was gone. And with it, according to the X-Men, his stability.

The X-Men hadn・t understood the way he・d felt. They・d thought that Timmy would live in the Mansion now, Logan reflected.

Like Logan would just hand over his and Jubilee・s child to them. He wasn・t that cold.

They・d had arguments, big ones. They・d even threatened to take custody from him, feeling that he wasn・t a suitable father because of his single-minded determination to uncover the truth. In the end, Logan had taken Timmy and moved away with him.

In the years that passed, Logan had been both mother and father to their child. Guiding him, comforting him, and loving him as much as Jubilee would have. But Timmy had changed.

He used to be as much of a firecracker as his mother. But he had become solemn, smiling only at his father. He had the combination of both his parents・ mutant powers. He had keen senses, and a limited healing factor. But his fireworks were as brilliant as his mother・s had been. He・d grown tall and Asian-skinned like his mother, but with his father・s hair and eyes. He・d insisted on helping his father when he turned ten..

And the search continued. According to files that Logan had found at the base Jubilee had been rescued from, a child had been born. But it didn・t say whose child it was.

Logan and Timmy were determined to find out・

To be continued